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Officer Betty
Shelby, 43, was found not guilty on Wednesday of manslaughter by
a Tulsa jury after a week-long trial for killing Terence
Crutcher, 40, in September 2016. The roadside incident was
captured on widely seen police video and stirred tensions over
racial bias in policing.
"While Officer Shelby made a justifiable decision at the very
moment she pulled the trigger according to her training, when
reviewing the moments before she discharged her weapon, the jury
wonders and some believe that she had other options available to
subdue Mr. Crutcher before he reached his car," the jury
foreperson said in a letter to court.
The Crutcher case was one of a string of deaths of unarmed black
men at the hands of the police in the United States that spawned
periodic protests and the Black Lives Matter movement.
The four-page letter filed last Friday with the Tulsa County
District Court Clerk’s Office was given to Judge Doug Drummond
on Wednesday during deliberations, with the initial request that
it be read aloud when the verdict had been rendered. After the
request was denied, it was included in the court record.
“The jury could not, beyond a reasonable doubt, conclude that
she did anything outside of her duties and training as a police
officer in that situation. This was critical to the verdict
rendered," the letter said.
Shelby told the jury she believed Crutcher may have been
reaching into the vehicle through a partially open window in
search of a weapon. She said she was taught during training that
if a suspect reaches into a car, an officer does not let the
person pull their arm back because he or she might be holding a
gun.
Shelby will be returning to police duties after more than six
months on administrative leave, but will not be on patrol, Tulsa
police said on Friday.
On Thursday, attorneys for the Crutcher family said they planned
to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Tulsa.
Crutcher's twin sister, Tiffany Crutcher, said police should
never allow Shelby back on the street with a gun.
(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
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